The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1887-10-06
CAR CHASERS.
They are Among the Most Import
ant Railway Employees.

Car-chssers are among the most i'm
portant employees of the great trunk
lines of railroads. The title exactly des-
cribes their business. On some rail-
roads they are called travelling car
agents. The department head who
employs them is called variously tie
car agent, the car accountant. or the
superintendent of rolling stock. These
officials have as many as a dozen assist
ants on some of the great roads, nire
or ten being clerks at $50 or $40 month,
and the rest being chasers, who travel
all over the country on free passes,
hunting up missing cars, and who re-
ceiye Sl20 or 500 a month and expenses.
Great railroads have immese numbers
of cars. The Central Railroad of New
Jersey nas about IS 900 of all sorts, the
Pennsylvania Railroad 10000 or 70 900.
These cars are at the present moment
in every State in the Union. They go
wherever the freight with which they
are loaded is billed to, and thus are
scattered from Winnipeg to Mexico
and Los Angeles to Bangor. A most
minute and thorough system, obtain
ing on all the railroads except the very
smallest, records every movement OF
every car. This system operates at all
junction points, where the agents re-
cord the ownership and number of
every car that passes from their road TO
a connecting line, and Immediately
notify the roads whose cars are thus
jn motion. as well as the car accountant
of their own road. These notifications
are made by postal card. In each gen.
eral office car account books are kept,
and the movements of the compauy's
.wn cars are recorded from day to day.
Whenever loaded car is emptied on a
foreign road, that road uses it to carry
a load of freight back in the direction
of the road to which the car belongs.
1t pays at the rate of seven-eighths
cent mile for this use of its neighbours
property in this way. and if it should
happen that there was no freight to be
shippedin that direction within reason-
ably short time, the empty car is sent
along, and mileage Is paid on it as If It
were laden.
1t is when a number OF cars are lost
sight of that travelling agent is sent |
out. Sometimes it happens that the
cars are on little branch roads, idle and |
overlooked; sometimes they are used |
by company that is short of cars and |
full of business, and is using every for
iegn CART can get, and sometimes other |
equally simple causes delay it. IF it is
in use by company short of cars, that |
company pays mileage on it. until it |
smetimes happens that car is worn |
out and paid for before it is returned |
or else it is never returned at all. If |
car chaser demands the return of his
company's cars, they are sent home,
but often others are seized and put to I
use when his back is turned and he is
travelling elsewhere. If a car is
smashed up in railroad accident it is
either rebuilt or a new one is made, or
the price of the car is paid to the
owners by the company on whose track
the smash up occurred.
Every contingency is provided for in
the system that has grown up among
the great roads. Recently the master
car builders of the country agreed on
a schedule OF prices for every conceiv-
able damage to cars, and the result is
going to be that the rolling stock of all |
the roads will grow more aud more uni
form in style and quality, since it is
agreed that only serviceable parts shall |
be put on cars that need mending, no |
matter how expensive and fanciful |
those parts may have been originally.